1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to product packaging, and in particular to methods, systems, and devices for resisting all physical attempts at entering or removing the product packed in a container, closed with such device, and for verifying and assuring that the contents of a package are genuine and unadulterated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lisa Lerer wrote in IP Law & Business magazine that radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology is being touted as a counterfeiting cure-all, but says this new technology is hardly more than a placebo. “Bad Medicine,” September 2006 issue, pp. 26-30. Pfizer's popular LIPITOR medicine has been the subject of wide-spread counterfeiting, and in 2003 the US-FDA had 18-million fake LIPITOR tablets recalled. It was estimated more than 600,000 Americans had received some counterfeit pills before the recall. As a result, Pfizer launched a $5-million program to test RFID on VIAGRA packaging.
Lisa Lerer despairs that RFID won't stop counterfeiting because RFID tracks packaging and not the pills themselves. She says savvy pirates can still sneak fakes into legitimate boxes, and for pharmaceutical companies facing serious counterfeiting problems, RFID is little more than a placebo.
Previous attempts at using polymer materials in secure cap systems have been far less than favorable because untreated polymer components exhibit “creep” or movement away from the points of stress. In vital medical packaging, such creep represents a potential loss of sterilization seal integrity. Since high temperatures are required to sterilize the finished products, the creep effect can be greatly accelerated by the necessary heating. The conventional polymers soften such that the plastic parts will loose their strength and rigidity. They can relax, or literally melt away from the points of stress. The joints and seals place the polymers under stress, and it these points that will be the first to fail.
In just today's pharmacological market, there are many lifesaving medications that retail to the end-customer patient for $1,000-$1,850 per month for only a five milliliter doses of medication. Such has enticed far too many unscrupulous individuals, including at least one US pharmacist, to dilute fully authentic and authorized medications so the diluted compounds could be sold several times to several patients.
So what is needed is a reasonably priced, multi-phased polymer based packaging system for a vial, bottle, jar, etc, that cannot be physically penetrated or removed and reused in a non-tamper-evident manner. Such system must prevent unscrupulous individuals or terrorists from passing-off faked or adulterated contents as legitimate. The physical preventative features should be supplemented by RFID protection components designed specifically to be integrated with mechanical locking, cross linked, and even crosslinked expanded polymer packaging and with tamper resistant/evident features.
A final assurance that is needed is a simple-to-use, non-invasive way to verify what is actually inside the protected package. Secure packaging systems with multi-phased safeguards would find immediate applications for high-end consumer cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, etc.